It wasn’t a record. It wasn’t even satisfactory for Sean Keller.
But the Heritage High School junior still managed to win the javelin event Friday at the Class 4A district track and field meet at McKenzie Stadium.
And he managed to win by 28 feet, recording a mark of 209-5.
Sam Ferenchak of Union was second at 181-6.
Still, it wasn’t up to Keller’s recent standards.
“No, not at all; 209 is going way backwards from 232,” he said.
Keller recently threw 232-1, the best mark in the nation this year and one foot shy of the national high school record. He also has made a habit of topping the 220 mark.
But his form never came together Friday.
“I’m not sure why,” he said. “But we’ve got a week to work on it.”
Keller and the top two finishers in each event advance to next week’s regional meet in Tacoma. That competition will determine berths to the state meet.
Keller scratched on his first throw Friday, then took a short and safe approach on his second attempt to ensure a counting throw.
That turned out to be the winning mark.
“My arm was coming forward before my block was even set,” he said of his other efforts. “I was running flat-footed.”
And he already was looking ahead to the regional meet and a competition against Quinn Hale from Bellarmine Prep of Tacoma.
“The second-place guy in the state will be there,” Keller said. “That gets you going.”
In other highlights from the Class 4A meet:
• Skyview rolled to both team titles. The Storm boys finished with 128 points to 97½ for runner-up Union. On the girls side, Skyview outscored second-place Union 122 to 100.
• Skyview’s girls title was led by the tandem of Priscilla Timmons and Rachel McQuivey.
Timmons added the 1,600-meter title to her Wednesday victories in the 800 and the 3,200.
McQuivey won the 100 hurdles and anchored the 1,600 relay, after winning the 300 hurdles and anchoring the winning 400 relay on Wednesday.
For those scoring at home, that’s five individual titles and parts of two relay victories for Timmons and McQuivey.
Timmons won the 1,600 by 10 seconds over teammate Sara Taferre. She said she’s contemplating not running the 800 at the regional meet because the 800 and the relays include a preliminary round, which wasn’t the case at the district meet.
But she’s ready for the longer distances.
“I’m definitely feeling like I’m getting ready to PR (personal record),” she said. “I’m trying to save my peak for state.”
McQuivey triumphed in the 100-meter hurdles by nearly one second, winning in 15.26.
“It was actually really smooth for me,” she said. “Recently I’ve been hitting the hurdles.”
• Battle Ground’s Tori Dixson added a shot put title — with a mark of 36-10 — to the discus crown she won Wednesday.
“I was pretty happy with it,” she said. “I plan on PR-ing next week.”
• Jacob Troupé of Union, last year’s state high jump champion at the 3A level, won the event with a mark of 6-4. That was matched by Battle Ground’s David Reinhardt, but Troupé had fewer misses.
Troupé could have attempted a greater height, but he has been nursing a foot injury throughout the season and elected to not risk aggravating it.
• Skyview’s Brad Michael — who on Wednesday won the 400 and finished second in the 100 — captured the title in the 200. He finished in 22.41, ahead of Union’s Ryan Stanford (22.61).
• Sophomore Forest Russell of Skyview won the long jump with a distance of 22-8. That’s the best mark in Southwest Washington this year and one of the 10 best in the state.
• Sophomore Jessica Ojukwu of Union completed a sprint double, winning the 200 meters in 25.99. She won the 100 on Wednesday.
